TS 910 
.112 
Copy 1 



The 

Pine-Needle Basket 

Book 





MRS. M. J. McAFEE, 
Originator of Pine-Needle Baskets. 

(Taken at the Age of Sixty-eiglit.) 



The 

Pine-Needle Basket Book 

BY 

Mrs. M. J. MCAFEE 

Originator of Pine-Needle Basi^'etry 




Illustrated 

By 

Mrs. Edwin Lang 



With an Introduction 

By 

Dr. Loy McAfee Inghram 



The Pine-Needle Publishing Company 

NEW YORK 
1911 



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COPYRIGHT, 191 1, 
BY DR. LOY MCAFEE INGHRAM. 



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©CI.A296694 



INTRODUCTION 

BY 

DR. LOY McAfee inghram 




The "Piny Woods." 



A PERSONAL NOTE 



"All outward wisdom yields to that within, 

Whereof nor creed nor cannon holds the key ; 
We only feel that we have been. 
And evermore shall be. 

'And thus I know, by memories unfurled. 

In rarer moods, and many a nameless sign. 
That once in Time, and somewhere in the world, 
I was a towering Pine." 

— Bayard Taylor. 



If, as the Vedantists believe, the soul sleeps in plants, dreams in 
animals, and awakes to its fullest being in man, a whole forest of pine 
trees must have become sentient when I was born. 

Pine trees, baby pines, pine needles, pine burs, "pine knots" — 
anything and all things associated with the pine — have always held for 
me some mystic spell. 

My earliest recollections centre around the "piny woods" of 
Georgia, and the Georgia pine is to me the queen of the forest, the 
"mother of legends." 

How many a happy hour have I spent "riding horse" on a pliant 
pine sapling in the thicket behind the garden of my childhood home! 

How many a thrilling toboggan slide have I had on the sleek pine 
needles that covered the hill behind the old school house! 

How many a time have I risked limb and life to gather the luscious 
muscadines from the vine entangled in the boughs of some tall and wind- 
swept pine! 

How many a time, tired from roaming the woods, have I stretched 
myself full-length upon the fragrant pine-needle carpet, beneath the trees, 
to dream the hours away under the mystic spell of the music of the pines I 

And how many a time, in later years, have I looked up from the 
"caiions of brick and mortar to the ribbon of sky overhead," and longed 
to do all these things once more, "far from the madding crowd's ignoble 
strife," deep in the fastness of the "piny woods," 

"Where all the winds were tranquil. 
And all the odors sweet." 



Through the years of activity in another sphere I have looked for- 
ward to the time vv^hen I might pay some modest tribute to my forest 
queen; vv^hen I might bring from her still sleeping soul some message to 
the soul of the waking world. 

In response to this desire the Pine-Needle Publishing Company has 
come into existence. From time to time, as opportunity and inspiration 
meet, this inherent and abiding love for the pine tree will be expressed in 
whatever manner the inclination of the moment may suggest. 

It has seemed fitting, for several reasons, that the first effort in this 
direction should be "The Pine-Needle Basket Book," which my mother, 
the originator of pine-needle basketry, has formulated, and my sister, 
Mrs. Edwin Lang, has illustrated. 

Being myself an earnest advocate of the gospel of work, and believ- 
ing sincerely that there is no age-limit to usefulness, it occurred to me that 
if my mother, who was seventy years old last December, and who is still 
an active member of the work-a-day world, would publish something of 
her work as a seventy-year mile-post, it might serve to encourage others 
along the journey of Hfe. 

Furthermore, the book will answer the oft-repeated request from 
her many pupils in basketry for the published technic of pine-needle basket 
making. Having taught the basket work class of the Summer School of 
the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, for the past five years, the 
present session being the sixth, her pupils now number several hundred, 
many of whom will doubtless be pleased to see a contribution to craftsman 
literature by "the Grandmother of the Summer School." 



When we were children down in Dixie our grandfather, my mother's 
father, was wont to relate, to all who did not know the story, the history 
of the wonderful hat which "Mary Jane" made for him during the War 
out of the needles of the long-leaf pine. No panama was ever lighter or 
more comfortable to wear. The only head covering for which he would 
voluntarily relinquish it was the cap of gray, which, though beyond the 
conscript age-limit, he wore in active service during the last three: years 
of the War. 

This pine-needle hat was the tangible expression of that necessity 
which has ever been the mother of invention, and was the progenitor of 
the pine-needle basket, as portrayed in the pages which follow. 

When the supply of hats gave out in the family, or families, during 
the War, there were no others obtainable with which to supply the dc 
ficiency, for the nearest town was thirty miles away, and there were no 
trains or trolleys by which to reach it. 



My mother, in an effort to supply the need for hats, made one of 
bulrushes, but it proved too heavy to be worn with comfort. While still 
searching for some native product from which to make a hat light enough 
to be worn with ease, she happened to see a limb of long-leaf pine in a 
wagon load of "pine straw" with which the negroes were covering the 
potato beds — a custom still followed in the rural districts of Georgia. 

She conceived the idea that these long, slender needles might be so 
treated as to render them sufficiently tough to be woven into a hat, while 
still retaining their pliability. She succeeded, after some experimentation, 
in accomplishing this in the manner detailed in the description of her work. 
The pine-needle hat of which our grandfather loved to tell was the first 
product of her new-found craft. 

The last spool of Coats thread was used in making this hat, and 
for all the others "homespun" cotton thread was employed. 

When the War ended, the so-called reconstruction days were verit- 
able ones for her, with a growing family to minister to under a totally new 
regime. And so the pine-needle hat became a part of wartime family 
lore, kept more or less fresh in mind by my grandfather's pride in the fact 
that "Mary Jane" could meet such an emergency as a dearth of hats in 
such an admirable manner. 

The family of five children had developed into men and women, 
and the impromptu hatmaker had become a grandmother, when the craft 
was revived, again in an accidental manner, and for a different purpose. 

When the writer was a "freshman medic" she acquired the spruce 
pillow fad — for were we not told by our professor of materia medica 
that tired brains may be soothed into forgetfulness of quizzes, "exams" 
and other horrors of medical college life by the fragrance of oleum pini 
sylvestris? No college "den" was complete without one or more spruce 
pillows. While my love for the pine tree was and is sufficiently general 
to include every branch of the very large pinus family, which embraces 
the spruce pillow variety, my preference naturally inclined me to want a 
pillow of the Georgia pine. No northern member of the pine family, I 
imagined, could possibly be more fragrant and soothing than its southern 
relative. Imbued with this idea, I wrote my mother to send me from 
Georgia to New York a bagful of needles of Georgia pine. 

She was in the heart of the "piny woods" at the time, where forests 
of long-leaf pine stretch for miles over the sand fields. She gathered the 
neighborhood children into a small and vociferous army of invasion, and 
marched them to the woods to gather the pine needles, promising to tell 
them stories as a reward for their assistance. 

When their baskets, filled with the fresh green needles, were brought 
to her a particularly beautiful sprig of long-leaf pine caught her eye. The 



chasm of intervening years was spanned in an instant, and the craft of the 
bygone day, born of the necessity of the time, came back to mind with 
a thousand associated memories. It was all woven into a wartime story, 
to which the children listened with intense interest. 

The end of the story was greeted with a chorus of approval, the 
refrain of which was, "Oh, Grandmamma, do make us a hat!" And 
so, without waiting for the needles to be properly cured, "Grandmamma" 
proceeded to make a doll hat or a basket for each of the children. 

By the time this feat was accomplished the facility for weaving the 
needles into shapeful objects had returned. Her own interest was again 
aroused, and the abandoned craft was revived with a new application. 
From this modest beginning has been evolved pine-needle basketry, the 
technic of which my mother gives in the pages which follow. 

One of the little hats is shown in Fig. 9-C, reproduced from 
"Indian and Other Basket Making," by George Wharton James, of 
Los Angeles, Gal., who published a group of my mother's earliest 
baskets. 




10 



THE LONG-LEAF PINE 



A few words about the long-leaf pine, the leaves of which are used 
in making the pine-needle baskets, may not be amiss in this connection. 

The tree, the botanical name of which is pinus palustris, is variously 
known as the long-leaf pine, the Georgia pine, the southern pine, the yel- 
low pine, the pitch pine, etc. 

Its stately grandeur is limned upon the landscape from, the southern 
frontier of Virginia to the savannas bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and 
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rio Grande River. 

Forests of this valuable timber tree extend over an area of from 
90,000 to 1 00,000 square miles, in Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Texas. 

The yield in timber and other products of the long-leaf pine is of 
great commercial and industrial importance. Industries which involve the 
outlay of enormous capital and the employment of immense numbers of 
people are dependent upon the forests of this tree. 

From the baby pine, shown in Fig. 1 , the long-leaf pine grows tall, 
straight and gradually tapering, with the limbs clustered in a crown which 
embraces one-half or one-third of the trunk, as shown in Fig. 2, repro- 
duced from Bulletin No. 13 (Revised Edition), U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Division of Forestry. It sometimes attains a height of II 
feet, though the average height is 1 00 feet. The diameter of the trunk 
four or five feet from the ground is from 20 to 36 inches. 

As a timber tree the long-leaf pine is surpassed in economic im- 
portance by no other forest tree. About 1 ,500,000,000 feet, board 
measure, or practically one-third of all the lumber manufactured in the 
South, is annually exported from Southern ports to domestic and foreign 
ports. In addition to this a large proportion of the material employed 
in this country in the construction of buildings of all kinds is obtained from 
the long-leaf pine forest. The timber is used in naval architecture for 
masts and spars, and in civil engineering for the construction of bridges, 
viaducts and trestlework. It is also used in the manufacture of furniture, 
for ornamental interior woodwork, and in various arts and industries. 

As fuel, in the form of firewood and charcoal, the long-leaf pine is 
a source of revenue. The "lightwood," by the Hght of which many an 
education was obtained in the olden days, is a product well known 
throughout the pine belts of the South. This resin-charged, highly inflam- 
mable wood is used extensively for kindling and for torches, from which 
uses it received its name. The "pine knots" are the richest of all in resin 
and, being hard, burn longest and brightest. The roots, which are also 
rich in resin, are used in the same manner as are the knots. 

11 




PiNus PALUSTRis: Seedlings and Young Plant. 



Fig. I. — Seedlings and Babv Pines. 



12 




Fic. 2. — Long-leaf Pine Tree. 



13 



The resinous product of the long-leaf pine gives rise to a number of 
important and lucrative industries. The naval stores of the world are very 
largely derived from the resinous output of the long-leaf pine forests of the 
South. These include resin, or crude turpentine; spirits of turpentine, or 
oil of turpentine ; rosin, or colophony ; pine tar, and common pitch. 

According to the U. S. Bureau of Agriculture, Division of Forestry, 
the foreign export of spirits of turpentine alone amounted in a single year, 
1892, to over 260,000 casks, the total production exceeding 350,000 
casks. Such an amount of turpentine necessitated the utilization of 2,500,- 
000 acres of pine forest. The exports of spirits of turpentine and rosin 
for the year 1890 amounted to $8,135,339. 

So far as the writer is aware, the cone, or seed bearing part, of the 
long-leaf pine is of no commercial value. A fully developed cone, with 
detached seeds, is shown in Fig. 4. The smaller cones, some of which 
are shown in Fig. 3, are used for decorative purposes in making pine- 
needle baskets. The scales of the fully grown cones have been used to a 
greater or less extent in the making of picture frames, screens for open fire- 
places, and for other ornamental purposes. I remember having seen a very 
beautiful screen made from these scales, which were sewn, by hand, upon 
cardboard or heavy paper, the whole being framed with wood to har- 
monize in color with the rich brown of the pine cone. 

The leaves, or needles, of the long-leaf pine are used for various 
purposes other than the making of baskets. In reply to a request for in- 
formation concerning the various methods of utilizing this particular part 
of the pine tree, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, through one of 
its "experts," sent the following interesting communication: "So far as I 
am informed the principal use for pine needles anywhere in the South is 
for fertilizer. They are, as a rule, used for bedding, either in the stalls or 
over the surface of the barnyard, and after being fermented for some time 
in this position are then hauled out onto the field. This manure is, as a 
rule, distributed in the furrows and the crop is planted over it." Atten- 
tion has already been called to another similarly unpoetic use to which 
the needles are put, namely, the covering of potato beds and strawberry 
beds. Nor are these the only useful ways of utilizing the leaves of the 
pine tree. 

From the green leaves is derived, by destructive distillation, the 
essential oil of pine, which is used so largely in pharmacy in the manu- 
facture of antiseptic solutions, cough syrups, expectorants, perfumes, etc., 
and which, exuding from its leaves, gives to the pine forest its delightful 
odor. 

The cellular tissue of the pine needles is used in making "pine wool," 
utilized by upholsterers. An attempt was made to employ this in the 

11 




PiNus PALuSTRis; Male and Female Flowers. 

Fig. 3. — Showing How the Burs Grow. 



15 



BuUel.n No. U, Dm$.on ol Fortslr,. 




PiNus cALUSTfiis: Cone and Seed.. 



Fig. 4.— Fully Developed Pine Cone, with Detached Seeds and Scales. 



16 



making of an antiseptic dressing for wounds, but, so far as I have been 
able to ascertain, this was abandoned after a brief attempt to popularize 
the product. 

According to the Government bulletin previously quoted, which was 
issued in 1897, various kinds of textile fabrics have been made from the 
needles of the long-leaf pine. One of these was a carpet, somewhat re- 
sembling cocoa matting, but very closely woven and quite durable. I am 
informed that this industry, like that of the manufacture of a surgical 
dressing from the needles, was soon abandoned. Latterly attempts have 
been made to produce finer textile fabrics from the needles, with what 
degree of success I have been unable to ascertain. 

The dead needles, when undisturbed, form a thick carpet under the 
trees upon which they have grown. Subjected to friction, as where they 
are trampled upon in walking, they become very sleek. This fact was 
utilized when we were children for toboggan purposes. I shall never 
forget the thrilling rides we used to have down the hill behind the old 
school house. The hill was quite steep, and at its foot passed a turbulent 
stream. The narrow footpath leading down the hill was literally as sleek 
as glass, and when the sled, which our older brothers had improvised 
for the purpose, was started on its reckless career toward the creek 
below, there was no stopping it until it reached level ground. The only 
thing that saved us from a watery grave in the creek, or from being dashed 
upon the rocks on its banks, was that "special Providence which takes 
care of fools, children and dogs." 

Another school-day use of the needles is brought to mind by 
Hayne's little poem, "Pine Needles": 

"If Mother Nature patches leaves of-tfees^nd vines, 
I'm sure she does her darning with the needles of the pines. 
They are so long and slender; and somewhere in full view. 
She has her threads of cobweb and a thimble made of dew." 

We used to make elaborate hats, aprons and even dresses of large 
oak, hickory or grape leaves, using pine needles as pins to hold the 
parts together. 



If this modest little brochure serves the purpose of arousing interest 
in the pine tree, of helping any craftsman to weave its needles into the 
enduring expressions of beauty which the pine-needle baskets represent, and 
if any way-worn traveler is encouraged to take heart again — the message 
from the forest world to the human world is not in vain. 

17 



I Bullelin No. 1 3, Division o( FoiMl7- 




PiNUS PALUSTRIS: BUO AND LEAF. 



Fig. 5.— Showing How Pine-Needles Grow, with Cross and Longitudinal 
Sections of a Single Needle. 



18 



PINE ^ NEEDLE BASKETRY 

BY 

MRS. M. J. McAFEE 




20 



DESCRIPTION AND PREPARATION 
OF MATERIALS 




HE long-leaf pine needles may be gathered green at any 
season. Experience has taught, however, that the best 
time to gather them is in the autumn. Those which fall 
from the trees, dry or dead, make the most attractive 
baskets. They are generally of a rich brown, and have 
a hard surface, which renders baskets made from them both beautiful and 
durable. 

From the green of the fresh needles to the mahogany brown of those 
which are gathered dry there is a wide range of coloring obtainable by 
careful manipulation. Once a shade is fixed by the curing process, it is 
never lost. Baskets retain their original coloring as long as they exist. No 
artificial coloring whatsoever is employed in the treatment of the needles. 

Despite the treatment to which the needles are subjected in the 
curing, they retain the delightful pine odor, due to a certain proportion 
of the essential oil of pine which remains in them. 

The green needles are pulled from the limbs and spread out in a 
cool, dark place to dry. In two or three weeks they are ready for use. 
If dried in absolute darkness they will be a beautiful soft green, the tone 
varying according to the amount of light to which the needles are exposed 
while drying. 

The needles may be cured in a shorter time by pouring boiling water 
over them before they are spread out to dry. Treated in this way, how- 
ever, the color is not so good as when they are allowed to dry more slowly. 

To cure the needles brown they must be exposed to the sun for a 
few weeks. For convenience of handling they may be left on the limbs. 
In summer they will brown in a week or two, but in winter it takes longer. 
They should be left out day and night, in all weather, and turned occa- 
sionally to allow them to brown on all sides. 

The well-matured needles generally turn a darker, richer brown than 
the younger ones. On a limb gathered from the tree in spring or summer 
there will be in the bud a number of short needles not fully matured; 
these often dry a soft yellow-brown, and now and then a straw color. 

The combination of these lighter tones with the dark, rich browns is 
very effective. 

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The best time to gather the brown needles as they fall from the trees, 
having dried naturally as other leaves dry and fall, is in the autumn, when 
the ground under the trees is covered with beautiful needles ready for use. 

If desired, there may be used for the ornamentation of the pine-needle 
baskets various grasses, manila, raffia, corn husks, yucca, and the long 
leaves or "fodder" of the sorghum cane or millet. Illustrations of such 
ornamentation are shown in Figs. 12, 13, 15, 17. 

The basket maker who desires to use native materials may find an 
abundance of beautiful grasses growing in the fields, by the roadside, in 
the woods, everywhere. These may be gathered green at any time, ex- 
cept when too young and tender to be available, and spread out in the 
shade to dry. There may be found also dried grasses of good texture 
and color. 

Manila and raffia are too well known to the basket maker to need 
description. They must be dyed in order to secure good color harmony, 
though the darker tones of the natural raffia may be used with the brown 
pine needles with very good effect. 

Corn husks may be utilized as taken from the corn after harvest, or 
they may be gathered green and dried in the shade. 

The bud or new spring growth of the sword-shaped leaves of the 
yucca plant, when shredded and dried in the shade, are of suitable texture 
for combining with the pine needles. The color ranges from almost white, 
through yellow, to green, according to the stage of growth in which they 
are gathered. 

Of all the above ornamental materials the sorghum or millet "fodder" 
is the most beautiful in texture and in color. It also has the advantage of 
being easily obtained, inasmuch as it grows everywhere in the South, where 
it is extensively cultivated for forage and for making sorghum molasses. 

When the millet is grown especially for basketry it is best planted 
on poor soil, as the growth is then smaller, the leaves better in texture 
and the color richer. 

In July the millet begins to change color. From this time until it is 
killed by the frost it may be gathered and spread out in the shade to dry. 
By watching the colors as they appear, and by gathering the leaves at 
different times, one may secure a great variety of yellows, reds, browns 
and sometimes rich violet-reds. 

With this range of millet coloring, with the different browns and 
greens of the pine needles, and with the color of the sewing material, many 
harmonious combinations may be evolved. Nature-loving craftsmen find 
these natural colors far more pleasing than the artificial shades obtained by 
means of dyes. 

The long-leaf pine needles grow in clusters of three in a sheath, as 

23 




21 



shown in Fig. 5. When about to be used the end is cut off and the 
needles slipped from the sheath. 

As they must be worked damp enough to be pliable, hot or cold 
water is poured over the needles, which are immediately wiped dry with 
a cloth. This serves the double purpose of dampenmg and cleansing the 
needles. The lustre and color may be very much improved by this 
cleansing process. 

The brown needles are dampened with hot water, the green ones 
with cold. This should always be borne in mind, as hot water changes 
the color of the green needles. 

They should never be left in either hot or cold water longer than 
a few minutes, as they quickly absorb so much moisture that the baskets 
will not be firm and durable when finished. 

The needles are now rolled in a damp cloth or paper, and so kept 
while they are being used. 

For sewing purposes strong cotton or linen thread, raffia or manila 
may be employed. 




25 





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TECHNIC OF PINE-NEEDLE 
BASKET MAKING 




HE beginner will find it less difficult, in making the first few 
baskets, to use strong cotton or linen thread in sewing the 
coil. After one or two baskets have been made, and 
sufficient skill has been acquired in handling the pine 
needles, raffia or manila may be employed. The latter 
sewing materials are better suited to the texture of the pine needles than 
is the cotton or linen thread. 

In sewing the baskets the simple coil stitch is used, as shown in Fig. 
8. A small roll of pine needles, wrapped with the sewing material and 
coiled upon itself, forms the "button" which is the very centre of the 
basket. 

To begin the button, take about twelve pine needles, or enough to 
make a coil three-eighths of an inch in diameter. Having threaded an 
ordinary sewing needle with thread, tie the thread around the pine needles 
an inch from the coarser, or sheath end; then, holding the needles in the 
left hand, wind the thread around twelve or fifteen times, as shown in 
Fig. 8. This wrapped part of the needles must be very carefully coiled 
upon itself by bringing the short end underneath and letting the free end 
of the coil pass toward the left. 

Now pass the thread over the top of the coil, and insert the sewing 
needle diagonally under the first round of the winding thread, letting the 
point of the needle come through to the left of this thread. 

This forms the first stitch, and the sewing is continued in this way 
lintil each round of the winding thread has been taken up. The sewing 
is then continued, round after round, care being taken to insert the needle 
well into the coil, letting the point come through very close to the left of 
each stitch. 

Each stitch must be tightly drawn and held in position with the 
finger while the next is being taken. This is very necessary in order to 
insure the firmness of the finished product. 

Care must be taken from the first to space the stitches evenly, as it 
is difficult later on to correct any irregularity in this regard. The lines of 
sewing radiating from the centre form an important decorative feature of 
the baskets. 

After the third or fourth round, when it becomes necessary to insert 



27 




Fig. 9.— Group of Mrs. McAfee's Earliest Baskets. C, "Cute Little Hat." 




Fig. 10. — Basket with Handle of 
Plaited Pine-Needles. 
28 



pine needles in order to enlarge and keep the coils of uniform size, open 
the free end of the coil close to the last stitch and insert the coarser end of 
two or three pine needles, pushing them back well into the coil, and being 
careful that the ends do not show on the surface. 

The pine needles are inserted so that the smooth or polished side is 
toward the outside of the basket. It is impossible to make a good pine- 
needle basket unless this point is observed. 

The coil must never be twisted, as beginners are liable to do; it must 
be held so that the needles seem to lay flat around the basket. This is the 
test of good workmanship. The beginner finds it difficult to make the 
polished surface of the needles come to the outside or decorative part of 
the basket, and also to make them lay flat and straight around the basket 
as the work proceeds. 




F]G. II. — Basket, Actual Size, Made by Gertrude Lang at the Age of 

Six Years. 



After the sewing has continued until the basket is large enough, let 
the coil run out by cutting out a third of the needles from the inside of the 
coil, take a stitch, cut out a few more needles, take another stitch, cut of! 
the remaining needles, sew the end of the coil firmly down inside the 
basket, finishing the edge smoothly, making the outline perfect. 

It is well to let the first basket be a small one of simple form. The 
modeling of the basket is done entirely with the fingers as the sewing 
proceeds. 

It is important to have in mind from the beginning a definite shape, 
or, better still, to make a full size drawing, in outline, of the basket. 

29 




30 



Beginners sometimes find it difficult to keep to the drawing, but re- 
peated effort results in the abifity to make any desired size and leads to a 
better appreciation of form. 

After practice has enabled the beginner to handle materials easily, 
raffia or manila should be used in sewing. For this chenille needles, 
number eighteen, nineteen or twenty, according to the size of the material 
to be carried, are employed. 

The sewing material, if raffia or manila, must be kept the same size, 
as any unevenness mars the beauty of the radiating lines of sewing, and 
gives to the basket a more or less crude appearance. 

In making large baskets it becomes necessary to add extra stitches. 
This should always be done in the bottom of the basket, or just on the 
round where the basket begins to turn up. When a band of contrasting 
color is to be worked in the extra stitches may be started on the first round 
of the band. 

This extra stitch is added by taking two stitches in the same 
place in the following manner: Take a stitch in the usual way, 
only instead of drawing it to the left, as the sewing material is drawn 
around the coil, pull the stitch as far as possible to the right, toward the 
preceding stitch. The next stitch may be called the extra one, and it 
comes in in the same place as that just taken, except that the point of the 
needle comes through the coil close to the right instead of the left of the 
stitch. This extra stitch is drawn toward the left as far as the last one was 
to the right. This is continued around the basket. 

The space between these two stitches gradually widens as the sewing 
progresses. This may be taken advantage of as a decorative feature 
by wrapping the coil in this space with raffia of a contrasting tone. The 
wrapping begins when the first of the two stitches is taken. One strand 
of raffia is taken and wrapped smoothly around the coil two or three 
times, being passed over the top of the coil and to the inside of the basket, 
when the next, or extra, stitch is taken. 

The next space is left uncovered, the raffia being held on the back 
of the coil until the first of the next two stitches is taken. The work con- 
tinues around the basket, and as the next round begins the design formed 
by the spaces of different tones will be seen. In Figs. 12, 13, may be 
seen baskets of this character. The design may be varied by wrapping 
every other space, making different proportions of light and dark, or there 
may be used two tones of raffia, thus varying the color harmony. Again, 
it is very easy to make the spaces vary in width. A little experience will 
lead to interesting results, as this decorative feature may be modified in 
many ways, according to the size and form of the basket, and the color 
of the materials employed. 

31 




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In all ornamentation of pine-needle baskets simplicity is the keynote. 

In the simple basket, with no decoration, the radiating lines of stitches 
form the only design, the color harmony of needles and sewing material, 
together with beauty of form and excellence of workmanship, being the 
chief attraction. 

It must be kept in mind that designs should be adapted to the ma- 
terial, the method of construction and the form of basket or tray to be 
decorated. 

In basketry, as in every other form of handcraft, a knowledge of 
the fundamental principles of design leads to greater freedom of 
expression. 




Fig. 14. — Pine-Cone Handle. 



It does not come within the scope of this work to do more than 
suggest to the student that in the simplest form of pine-needle decoration 
— the straight band of color — there are infinite possibilities in applying a 
knowledge of space relations. 

After mastering the difficulties of handling materials, the attention 
will naturally be turned to developing skill in securing good form, with 
which will come a desire for variety of design and color. 

The finished pine-needle basket should bring to the beholder a sense 
of satisfaction and completeness, with no desire to change form or orna- 
mentation, or to vary any of the tone relations. 

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The texture of millet "fodder" does not allow the design to follow 
anything but straight lines. These may be broken into areas of different 
size and shape, but the millet must follow the straight-around direction of 
the coil. 

Millet must be worked slightly damp. The quantity to be used is 
sprinkled with water and rolled in a paper a few minutes before using. If 
kept damp too long it loses its beautiful rich coloring. 

To begin, a piece of millet is laid along the outside of the coil, the 
larger end being passed over the top of the coil, close to the last stitch 
taken, and then to the inside of the basket. One stitch is taken to hold 
the end firmly in place, the edges of the millet are next folded around the 
the coil, and the sewing is proceeded with, round after round, until the 
band of millet is of the desired width. The millet is then passed under 
the coil to the inside of the basket, and cut off, the pine needles being 
brought again to the surface. 

When a design, other than the straight band, is to be put in the millet 
is started in the sarrie way, carried as far as necessary, then passed to the 
top of the coil and back to the inside of the basket, where it may be cut off 
or continued on the back of the co.l until it is to appear again on the 
surface. On the next round the millet is started and ended in this way, 
as the design requires, the design being built in, round after round, in this 
manner. 

The pine cone may be effectively used in the centre of the basket 
lid or cover as a handle (Fig. 14). 

The cones may be gathered green and spread out in the sun or 
shade to dry, or they may be gathered dry in the autumn before they are 
too widely open. 

To begin the cover, wrap one strand of raffia very tightly around 
the larger end of the cone as many times as necessary to form the begin- 
ning of the coil, as shown in Fig. 1 6. Then taking a coil of pine 
needles the size of that used in the basket, begin to sew this to the raffia 
coil, passing the sewing needle under the wrapping of raffia, and taking 
the stitches close together. The sewing is continued until the coil of pine 
needles has been carried around the cone, then the stitches are taken in the 
usual way. 

In making small baskets it is well to count the rows of stitches around 
the top of the basket and start the cover with the same number; then the 
radiating lines of sewing form the same number of double curves from the 
centre of the bottom to the centre of the cover. 

A drawing of the basket, with cover on, should be made. The size 
of the cone must be taken into consideration in forming a perfectly har- 
monious outline of the whole. 

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Another kind of handle is made by plaiting or braiding pine needles 
and sewing the braid to the cover, as shown in Figs. 10, 12, 18. 

The simplest form of cover is one that rests flat on the top of the 
basket. In making this the cover is made of the proper size, when the 
coil is allowed to run out as in finishing the basket. This cover may be 
fastened to the basket by means of the sewing material. 





Fig. 17. — Millet-Fodder Decorative Bands ; Open Pine-Cone Handle. 



Another cover is made to fit over the top of the basket. In this case 
the form must be taken into consideration. The cover is made one round 
larger than the top of the basket, and then is turned down. After making 
three rounds the coil is allowed to run out and the edge finished smoothly. 
This cover must fit easily over the basket. 




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A third kind of cover is made to fit into the basket, and may be made 
for any form of basket. In making this cover the work is continued until 
the cover is about one round smaller than the opening of the basket. The 
coil is then turned down at a right angle and three rounds made, after 
which it is ended in the manner described. This part of the cover must 
fit loosely into the basket. Next, one round of coil is stitched to the cover 
at the top of these three rounds, the sewing being commenced where the 
first round turns down. This forms a ledge to keep the cover from slip- 
ping into the basket. In sewing on this round the stitches are so placed 
that the radiating lines of sewing are continued, allowing the cover to 
present a regular surface from centre to edge. The coil is made to run, 
out and the edge is finished in the usual manner. 




Fig. 19. — Thimble 

Basket, Actual 

Size. 



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